Hot Topic (1/17): 'Sexting': Child Porn or Childs Play?

[Cafe GroupAdmin]

 

'Sexting': Child Pornography or Free-Speech Right?

 

FoxNews: The first criminal case involving "sexting" reached a U.S. appeals court on Friday -- a case that asks whether racy cell-phone photos of three girls amount to child pornography or child's play.

thundercatt99.wordpress.com

A county prosecutor in northeastern Pennsylvania threatened to pursue felony charges if the girls skipped his "re-education" course on such topics as sexual predators and "what it means to be a girl in today's society."

The photos show two 12-year-olds in training bras at a sleepover and a topless 16-year-old stepping out of the shower.

MaryJo Miller, 45, of Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania, thought her daughter Marissa and friend Grace Kelly were being "goofballs" in the 2007 slumber-party shot, which mysteriously surfaced two years later in student cell phones confiscated at school.

"You're going to see more provocative photos in a Victoria's Secret catalog," Miller, a classroom aide in the Tunkhannock Area School District, said after the hearing, referring to the lingerie retailer.

County officials say they are trying to address the pervasive problem of teens sexting, or exchanging sexually explicit photos and e-mails on their cell phones. According to one study, 20 percent of U.S. teens admit they have done it.

The American Civil Liberties Union considers the images in the Pennsylvania case harmless.

"We've been mystified how anybody can look at these photos and say these are second-degree felonies," Witold J. Walczak, the ACLU of Pennsylvania's legal director, argued Friday in the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals.

Either way, he said, officials are flipping the intent of child-pornography laws -- to protect children -- by going after the victims. It's unclear who first disseminated the photographs. Each girl insists she did not.

"Turning them into sex offenders is an odd way to protect kids," Walczak said after the oral arguments.

Former Wyoming County District Attorney George Skumanick Jr., a Republican, initiated the case in late 2008, and successor Jeffrey Mitchell, a Democrat who took office this month, shows no sign he'll change course.

"Naked pictures of children on the Internet draws predators the same way a swamp draws mosquitoes," argued lawyer Michael Donohue of Scranton, who represents the prosecutor's office. Authorities must sometimes protect children from themselves, he argued.

The judges appeared dubious of the "re-education" class, honing in on the ACLU argument that it amounts to compelled speech. Judge Thomas Ambro asked whether government should require a course on what it means to be a girl in society, as taught by a county official.

Walczak believes officials are infringing on parents' right to control and educate their children. The 13 other Tunkhannock students accused of sexting -- three boys and 10 girls -- chose to attend the $100, six- to nine-month pretrial diversion program.

"Sexting is a vague term that covers everything from the lovely to the laughable to the lewd," Walczak said. "Just because his sensibilities are offended, he cannot impose his particular orthodoxy."

Donohue argued that minors exchange provocative images for the "sexual stimulation and gratification" of fellow students.

Still, he said the county no longer plans to pursue charges over the bra photo, but only over the topless shot, which involves a girl identified as "Nancy Doe."

School officials in Tunkhannock, about 130 miles north of Philadelphia, found the images in late 2008 on cell phones confiscated from junior and senior high school students. They ranged in age from 11 to 17.

Prosecutors in a number of states, including Pennsylvania, Connecticut, North Dakota, Ohio, Utah, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin, have tried to put a stop to sexting by charging teens who send and receive the pictures.

The 3rd Circuit judges did not indicate when they would rule.

What are your thoughts? Child Porn or Childs Play?

[mytiquah]

i think that it is a problem, for teens.  my mother would be pissed if i had done that as a child. i was never one to do these things. but in a way i can see where they are coming from on the other side. how can we protect our children if they feed right into predators hands. not to say they all are, but it is inappropriate. but there is a difference between a topless girl getting out of the shower, and two girls at a aleepover, goofing off. i dont think its fair to charge them and make there status into sex offenders though. i guess it all depends. but i think they all should know its not okay. there has to be another less extreme way to deal with this problem

[WesAndNicksMom]

a local girl (who was a foster child) was taken to court against herself for "distributing child pornography" because she sent pictures of herself out to others.

i think it's rediculous to charge someone that young who sends out pictures of themselves.  i could see charging those who forward it, but not the actual minor who sent it in the first place.

my main problem with it is labeling them as a sex offender which will haunt them for the rest of their lives (in ohio you never go off of the list no matter how many years pass by).

[forsythia_18]

Technically, it IS child porn.  It is a problem and I admit, as a minor, I sent pictures of myself to boyfriends.  It's embarrassing to admit.  It's hard being a teenage girl in today's society. 

Do I think they should be labeled as SEX OFFENDERS?  no.  But I want there to be a lot of focus on programs to help teen girls with self esteem.

[la_bella_vita]

I don't think these teens need to be labled as sex offenders. I think they need help and like forsythia said, they need help with self esteem.

[rotPferd]

It's beyond "fixing" or finding a solution. This is what happens when society allows sex to become mainstream. When I was a kid, you only found lingerie in the Sears catalog. Now it's in every magazine, all over TV, internet, billboards, etc. 60 yrs ago, you couldn't say pregnant on TV. Now they say every cuss word in the book but shitt and f*ck. Heaven forbid if someone says fag or queer so as to not offend anyone tho. Why is anyone so shocked and surprised by the things kids do these days?

[cherry41089]

Quoting forsythia_18:

Technically, it IS child porn.  It is a problem and I admit, as a minor, I sent pictures of myself to boyfriends.  It's embarrassing to admit.  It's hard being a teenage girl in today's society. 

Do I think they should be labeled as SEX OFFENDERS?  no.  But I want there to be a lot of focus on programs to help teen girls with self esteem.

I totally agree with you

[WildKat]

I can't understand why they wouldn't just agree to take the class in this case.  Are they afraid their daughter might learn not to do this again? And protect herself from predators? 

I can see the argument that "girls just wanna have fun" but they are playing with fire - these photos have already spread and can all too easily land in the wrong hands.  Why would any parent actually *defend* their teenage daughter's right to be exploited that way?!?

You can call this playing all you want...  but it's really like playing with fire. 

Peace,

Kat

[WildKat]

Quoting mytiquah:

i think that it is a problem, for teens.  my mother would be pissed if i had done that as a child. i was never one to do these things. but in a way i can see where they are coming from on the other side. how can we protect our children if they feed right into predators hands. not to say they all are, but it is inappropriate. but there is a difference between a topless girl getting out of the shower, and two girls at a aleepover, goofing off. i dont think its fair to charge them and make there status into sex offenders though. i guess it all depends. but i think they all should know its not okay. there has to be another less extreme way to deal with this problem

And there is.  Did you read this bit from the article?

Quote:

A county prosecutor in northeastern Pennsylvania threatened to pursue felony charges if the girls skipped his "re-education" course on such topics as sexual predators and "what it means to be a girl in today's society."

What baffles me is that the parents seem to be refusing this help for their daughter.

Peace,

Kat

[spore]

oh my this answers my question! that I ask everyone I know.

If you take a picture of yourself naked as a child and post it...can yo get in trouble for child porn? I guess now you can.

 

".........have tried to put a stop to sexting by charging teens who send and receive the pictures."

thats bull...you can not control what people can send you. I know I have gotten alot of pic texts that I have not wanted to receive at all.(anime porn...gross)

[Kalebs_mommy23]

technically it is child porn but it's very common. I was sending naked pictures of myself by the time i was 17 (sexting at 15) it's not irregular. I think we need to teach our young girls more about predators and standing up for themselves.